Will County, Illinois Eviction Risk: Moderate

Will County carries an average eviction-risk score of 4.3/10, placing it in the Moderate tier and ranking it 10th of 102 Illinois counties by risk, meaning only 9 counties across Illinois are rated riskier. For landlords and investors operating across the county's 42 cities, that average is a starting point, not a destination: the actual spread runs from 3.8 to 5, a full point of variation that makes city selection as consequential as county selection. Average rents run $1,561 per month, and renters represent 18.7% of occupied housing, so the pool of prospective tenants is real but not deep.

At the macro level, a Moderate rating in Will County averages the legal environment is manageable under Illinois state law, but not soft. Contested evictions can run 60 to 150 days statewide, cost-of-carry matters, and pockets of elevated risk scattered across the county demand careful due diligence before each acquisition. Investors who treat the county score as a green light without checking individual cities are working with an incomplete picture.

The cities inside Will County

The highest-risk locations in the county cluster in smaller communities. Custer Park and Andres both score 4/10, the county ceiling. University Park, Rockdale, Preston Heights, Bonnie Brae, and Marley each come in at 4.9/10, and Crest Hill follows at 4.5/10. These are not the county's largest markets, but they represent the tightest operating conditions a landlord will encounter here.

The county's biggest population centers tell a different story. Joliet, the largest city at 150,445 residents, is actually the county's most landlord-friendly major market at 4.7/10, the county floor. Bolingbrook (74,096 residents, 4.6/10) and Romeoville (41,152 residents, 4.4/10) sit in the moderate-to-elevated band, while Plainfield, New Lenox, and Homer Glen each score 4.2/10. The takeaway is straightforward: risk in Will County is hyper-local, and the county average obscures a gap of more than a full point between the best and worst submarkets.

State-level laws that apply here

Every landlord in Will County operates under 735 ILCS 5/9 (Forcible Entry and Detainer), Illinois's statewide eviction statute. For nonpayment of rent, the required notice is 5 days; a material lease violation requires 10 days; a month-to-month holdover requires 30 days; and an expired fixed-term lease requires no additional notice before filing. Once in court, uncontested cases typically resolve in 30 to 60 days, while contested matters can stretch to 60 to 150 days. Out-of-pocket costs include court filing fees of $200 to $400, sheriff lockout fees of $60 to $200, and attorney fees that commonly range from $750 to $3,500. The full Illinois eviction process and the range of Illinois eviction costs are covered in the statewide guides linked on this site.

On the regulatory side, Illinois does not require just cause for eviction, and state law preempts local rent-control ordinances, so no Will County municipality can impose a rent cap. Source-of-income is a protected class under the Illinois Department of Human Rights, which affects tenant-screening decisions. Retaliation against tenants is governed by 765 ILCS 720/1 and habitability standards by 765 ILCS 742. Understanding Illinois security deposit limits and Illinois tenant protections is essential before setting lease terms, since violations can expose landlords to separate civil liability.

With a poverty rate of 7.8% and a renter share of 18.7%, Will County's fundamentals are stable by Illinois standards, but the city-level scores in the grid above show where that stability holds and where it erodes.